


Just Them

by aj_linguistik



Series: October Prompt Challenge [4]
Category: Sword Art Online (Anime & Manga), ソードアート・オンライン - 川原礫 | Sword Art Online - Kawahara Reki
Genre: But Also Sort Of Mid-Canon Thanks SAO, F/M, October Prompt Challenge, One Shot, Post-Canon, Pregnancy, Spoilers for Moon Cradle, Unplanned Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-04
Updated: 2020-10-04
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:54:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,139
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26823226
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aj_linguistik/pseuds/aj_linguistik
Summary: Sheyta wants to tell Iskahn something important. But they're in the middle of a meeting- it would be a bad time to bring it up. He's worried that something is bothering her, so he takes her away from the meeting to take her mind off of it.
Relationships: Iskahn/Sheyta Synthesis Twelve
Series: October Prompt Challenge [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1949194
Comments: 10
Kudos: 25





	Just Them

**Author's Note:**

  * For [disasterbiKirito](https://archiveofourown.org/users/disasterbiKirito/gifts).



> A/N: Today's October prompt brings us back to my home front! Hello SAO peeps! Not dead, lol. This prompt was favorite AU. Babe picked my favorite AU, which is babyfic, and then had a very specific request for this pairing that turned out pretty cute I think. I hope you all enjoy some of the Underworld's most powerful couple. <3

How many months had it been since she’d seen the inside of the Central Cathedral?

After the Great Otherworld War had ended, there had been only one thing on Sheyta’s mind as a survivor of that war—the finding of the one thing that she wanted to protect. For so long, she’d spent her life wanting to cut everything up and destroy it. Now, she had something so priceless to her that she couldn’t ever pierce it with a blade: the fine warrior she’d accompanied back to the Dark Territory, and the man she now stood beside as they talked over the inner workings of the new world together.

The Supreme Commander of the Dark Territory Army.

Iskahn.

Her husband.

It was a union that they hadn’t given much thought to outside of their own feelings. Why should they care what the world thought of them? They were two very powerful people. Anyone who opposed their union couldn’t challenge it without failure. They didn’t fear discrimination nor disapproval. But those around them at this table saw their love as a beautiful bridge between the distance that lay between the Human Empire and the Dark Territory. And as they spoke about what being public with their relationship would mean for the Underworld, Sheyta couldn’t help but think of something else that held this important meaning.

She pressed a hand to her midsection and did her best to keep her face devoid of anything telling. In this group of people, she couldn’t just blurt it out. This was information that she alone knew, after all. The next person to know should be her husband—not the entire council. For now, she had to keep quiet about it and think on this to herself. Her baby was the first child to have a parent from the Human Empire and one from the Dark Territory. She felt honored now, of all times, to think that she was going to be the mother of such an important little life.

“What do you think, Sheyta?”

Her head snapped to attention. She’d been a bit too lost in thought. She hadn’t heard what they’d been talking about. She didn’t want to ask them to repeat themselves and give away that she hadn’t been paying attention, so she just nodded. They were used to her keeping her mouth shut anyways. Nothing would be abnormal about just a nod. Across the table, the Swordsman Delegate, Kirito, gave her an odd-half smile as if he were amused.

“Well, so long as you both agree, I don’t see why not,” he said. “We’re appreciative for the cooperation of the Dark Territory in these efforts to try and unite the people of the Underworld.”

She returned his odd smirk with a faint smile of her own. If Iskahn had agreed previously, then she had no reason to disagree. She looked over at her husband. He looked slightly worried. It was strange for him to give her such a look.

“If we’re all in agreement, then we’ll get to work on trying to open the borders slowly as soon as we can,” Deusolbert said. “With the time limits on stays in the Human Empire or Dark Territory, it’ll ensure that people aren’t staying around too long so as to cause any trouble, but it will open the door for both sides to learn more about one another culturally.”

Kirito nodded his head.

“I’m sure Lady Fanatio would agree,” he said. “So, it’s settled.”

Beside him, the other Otherworlder who had come to help the Underworld during the war, Swordswoman Subdelegate Asuna, reached over and grabbed his ear rather firmly.

“You should ask her yourself before you jump to conclusions!” she said. “She’s not ill, Kirito-kun! She’s just taking care of a very small baby!”

The Swordsman Delegate let out a dry laugh as he avoided the gaze of his girlfriend. Deusolbert made sure to tell the council that this would all be run past Fanatio before they finalized anything, which no one took an issue with. He declared the meeting to be at a close and dismissed the group. Sheyta turned to Iskahn and tilted her head curiously when she saw that he still had that worried expression on his face.

“Is something about this plan bothering you?” she asked.

He grumbled.

“Does this place have a training facility?” he asked.

She smiled and nodded. Her husband truly was most at home when he was somewhere where he could keep his body in top fighting form. His expression perhaps wasn’t worry—it was the discomfort of being so far from home. She took him by the hand and led him through the cathedral, taking him to the big training facility she’d used so many times in her long life as an Integrity Knight. His eyes lit up as soon as he saw the space as his for the taking.

He dashed to the center of the room and started dancing around on the balls of his feet, warming himself up. He took majestic swings with his muscled arms, his eyes regaining the excited energy that she loved to see. He stopped for a moment to pull off his shirt and toss it to the side. He turned to her and gave her a cocky, confident grin.

“Sheyta!” he exclaimed. “Come spar with me!”

A knot suddenly formed in her stomach. She couldn’t spar with him now. But she hadn’t told him that yet. She’d only known for a very short amount of time. Frowning, she lowered her gaze and shook her head.

“Not…not now,” she said. “I cannot spar with you today.”

Iskahn’s smile vanished.

“I knew something was wrong,” he said. “Does the situation with the borders opening for tourism bother you?”

She shook her head.

“No, it’s nothing like that,” she said. “The meeting today went well. I fully support this move. It will be good for the people of the two nations to come together slowly. The differences between them will no longer matter.”

Iskahn frowned.

“Then what’s bothering you?” he asked. “You’ve had a funny look on your face since about the middle of the meeting. I thought that coming out here to spar would lift your spirits, but now you’re saying you can’t. Are you hurt?”

She shook her head again.

“It simply isn’t safe for two of us today,” she said, hoping that he got her hint.

He scoffed.

“Nonsense!” he said. “You can’t hurt me! The most damage you’ve ever done to me was scratches. You don’t have to worry about hurting me. Where is this coming from all of the sudden? Who put that thought in your head?”

Sheyta sighed.

“I don’t mean you,” she said.

She rested her hand on her belly. He glanced down at her hand for a moment, frowning in confusion as he thought. Then, he must have put the dots together. His eyebrows raised upwards and his eyes widened. He walked over to her and reached out a hand hesitantly. His hand was shaking, as if he were nervous. She smiled and reached over to grasp his hand. She then placed it against her belly.

“In order for our child to be the strongest knight, I’ll have to refrain from sparring with you for a while,” she said. “If you can be patient with me, I promise to help our child be the strongest in the entire Underworld.”

Iskahn stared down at her belly.

“We’re going to have a baby?” he said.

The greatest warrior in the Dark Territory sounded as if his voice was trembling. It was the strangest sound in the world to her. He sounded so meek for the first time since their meeting. Out of the view of everyone else, where he was free to be vulnerable, he’d never been such before. But now, he sounded as if he were on the verge of tears. She tilted her head and hummed.

“Yes,” she said. “Is that alright?”

He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close against him. He was being so gentle, something that also felt different. As a pair, they were never soft and gentle. Something about this felt special and new to Sheyta—she was getting to see a side to Iskahn that she’d never seen before. It was exciting. Had she ever found anything in the world exciting other than him? Finding more about him to love and cause her pulse to race felt exhilarating.

“Of course, it’s alright!” he said. “Remember what we said during the war?”

How could she forget?

“That we would have the strongest child in the whole world,” she said. “I remember.”

He smiled and cupped her face in his hands. This was the soft side of him that only she was allowed to see. The way his eyes grew gentler as he gazed at her; the way his strong hands held her like one held a blossom in their hands. Such gentleness from the strongest man she’d ever met.

“I promise that I’ll be strong enough to protect you both until it’s time for our kid to come into the world,” he said. “I swear to you that no harm will come to you during this time.”

She nodded her head.

“And I promise to bring our child into the world as strong as they can be,” she said.

A promise made between a pair who valued their strength as much as they valued one another. Their child would inherit every ounce of that strength.

“I know you will,” he said.

Iskahn smiled so widely that she thought his face must hurt. Tears started to stream down his cheeks as he grinned. She wondered why he was crying. Had it been so long since she’d been properly human that she didn’t know when it was appropriate to cry?

“Are you alright?” she asked.

He laughed and rested his forehead against hers.

“I’m overjoyed,” he said. “The love of my life, the strongest woman in the world, just told me that I’m going to be a father. I couldn’t be happier, Sheyta. I can’t wait to train with the kid. Won’t that be great? You and me and our kid, training together.”

She smiled at the image. Their child. Fighting alongside them as they trained for whatever might threaten their family and their world.

“That does sound wonderful,” she said.

He pulled her closer and slipped his lips into hers. She could feel his strength and his excitement. It was fine that her emotions weren’t as pronounced as his. He had enough to express all of this joy for the both of them. She leaned into his kiss, grasping his shoulders tightly as they drank up one another’s taste. When their lips parted, Iskahn reached down and cupped her belly with his hands.

“I’m excited to meet you, little fighter,” he said.

Sheyta laughed lightly. They’d been going back and forth about this ever since the battle in which they met first as comrades. Each wanted their child to be the shining image of their own fighting style. He wanted to teach their child to be a pugilist; she wanted to train their child in the sword.

“You mean little knight,” she said.

Iskahn laughed and shook his head.

“I’ll convince you by the time the kid arrives,” he said. “They’ll be the strongest of all of the pugilists in the guild. You’ll see. I know it’ll happen.”

She hummed and placed her hands atop his.

“Perhaps we’ll just have to train our child in both paths,” she said. “As both a knight and as a pugilist.”

Iskahn straightened up and hummed, as if considering it for a moment.

“That would make the kid doubly strong,” he said, nodding. “Not a bad idea. We’ll have a kid who is undefeatable in battle, no matter how they have to fight. I like the sound of that. They’ll make a great Supreme Commander someday.”

Sheyta giggled at that. Iskahn turned his head and smiled.

“That’s the first time I’ve ever heard you laugh like that,” he said.

She felt her cheeks grow slightly warm.

“No, no, don’t be embarrassed,” he said.

He pulled her into another kiss.

“It’s just us here,” he said. “We’re allowed to act out of the ordinary. After all, it’s a special day. We should celebrate becoming parents. If you want to laugh, then let yourself laugh. You deserve it.”

She pressed her lips against his again. She couldn’t explain why she’d laughed just then, but perhaps she’d allow it, like he said. After all, she only had one time that she could tell him he was a father for the first time. She might as well savor it and allow emotions to occur naturally.

Like he said.

It was just them.


End file.
